Use certified quality seeds for good yield, farmers told

In order to avoid mixture of other variety of paddy seeds farmers should procure their paddy seeds from certi...Read More

TRICHY: As farmers are preparing their lands to begin samba cultivation following the release of water in Cauvery for irrigation, the agriculture department has asked the farmers to use certified quality seeds provided by the department for achieving high yield. Admixture of other paddy varieties, low percentage of germination capacity and absence of physical purification are the main reasons for low production of any crop, department sources said. In order to avoid low yield in paddy production agriculture department has taken steps to provide good quality of seeds to the farmers, officials said. Farmers from Anthanallur, Manikandam, Thiruverumbur, Mannachanallur, Lalgudi, Pullambadi, Musiri and Thottiam blocks in Trichy district are going to cultivate samba paddy in around 87,500 acres this season as water has been released from Mettur Stanley reservoir by the chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on August 13. "Agriculture department in Trichy has made ready the required paddy seeds, which should be very adoptive to withstand the present state of water or drought condition. Medium-term paddy variety such as TKM 13, Ko R 50, Trichy 3, ADT 49, NLR 34449 are made available with agriculture extension centres in the district,” said R Santhanakrishnan, the joint director of agriculture department, Trichy.

These seeds can be purchased with 50% subsidy under the scheme of national agriculture development programme and Seed Village Scheme. In order to avoid mixture of other variety of paddy seeds, to have 100% physical purity and good germination quality, farmers should procure their paddy seeds from certified government agencies, he added. “To control all the possible diseases, farmers should administer pseudomonas fluorescens. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is the best method that should be adopted by farmers for high yield. Water management is also playing a major role for harvesting good yield. Dry and wet method is the best one for a good water management system. This would help the crop to grow healthy,” Santhanakrishnan further stated.